Army foils infiltration bid, 3 militants shot

5 September 2008The Indian ExpressMir Ehsan

Srinagar: A fortnight after 14 infiltrators were killed on the Line of Control, the Army on Friday claimed to have foiled another infiltration attempt in North Kashmir’s Kupwara sector, killing three militants. “Three infiltrators were killed when militants made an attempt to sneak into the Valley through Tangdhar sector,” a defence spokesman said. “Search operation has been launched to track down the other militants,” he said. However, he could not give the number of infiltrators. “The operation is still in progress and troops have been fanned in the area to search the other militants.” The spokesman said the militants had sneaked into the Valley after cutting the barbed wire fence on the Line of Control, taking advantage of the darkness. On August 22, the Army — in one of the deadliest encounters close to the Line of Control in Kupwara’s Machil sector — had killed 14 militants. A Commanding officer of the Army and two soldiers were also killed in the encounter that lasted for three days. Since July, the Army has foiled three major infiltration attempts made by the militants in Kupwara’s Tanghdar and Keran sectors killing 32 infiltrators. The Army also lost nine soldiers including four officers while thwarting these infiltrations bids. The Army had also installed latest sensors and thermal devices to check infiltration along the LoC.